Hot Dude, Reading
by Ninkita
Summary: Two bibliophiles, an Instagram account and some very suggestive hash-tagging. Is it true that there's nothing sexier than books? *4th place, Popular Vote, in the 2015 Meet The Mate Contest*


**A/N:** This was originally an entry for the Meet the Mate Contest, and to my delight, was placed 4th in Public Voting. Out of 79 stories. Heh. I may still be in shock.

Beta'd by NewTwilightFan. Maggie, I can't thank you enough :)

 **Disclaimer:** The author does not own any publicly recognizable characters herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

…_ _…

Bella got onto the train, with one eye out for an open seat, and the other drawn to her phone, thanks to the ping of a new email. A hassled looking mother with two bickering kids got up just then, and with a sigh of satisfaction, Bella dropped into one of the empty seats. She had been on her feet all morning at the library, first helping people find books, and then re-shelving all the books they left lying around. It felt good to be off her feet for a bit. Turning her attention back to her phone, she tapped the screen to bring up her email.

 _From: angelwebs_

 _To: ringabell_

 _Here's a weekday treat for your eyes. Tell me HDR is not the most 'made for Bella' thing ever. I dare you._

 _I accept thanks in the form of wine._

 _PS: Get an Instagram account, you idiot._

 _PPS: Read the captions_

Bella raised her eyebrow with a wry smile. Angela believed it was her life's mission to get Bella engaged in 'things normal people do', as she put it. She could not fathom that she was not really into social media. But then, Angela was as social as they come, had been since she was a reporter and then editor of the paper in high school… she was all about the gossip, the scoop, and more importantly, about the people. Bella, on the other hand, was quite happy away from the action.

Shaking her head a little, she tapped on the attached link. It was for an article in the _Huffington Post_ , about an Instagram phenomenon that had for the last few months been breaking the internet far more effectively than Kim Kardashian's ass-inine attempts.

 _ **'Hot Dudes Reading' Is Proof There's Nothing Sexier Than Books**_

Huh, how's that for a headline. Well, she wouldn't disagree in theory, but she worked at the library for God's sake. If there was a 'hot dude' who actually was into books, she had yet to lay eyes on him. Still, the Instagram account did have over a million followers already. No harm in checking it out, right?

A quick scroll through the page made her gasp. Well, now. Clearly, all the hot men who read travelled on the train, because she had certainly never seen anyone this cute in the library. And the captions… who came up with this stuff? She clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent a laugh from escaping.

'I want that beanie on my bedroom floor'; #YouKnowWhatTheySayAboutThickBooks; #TapTapTapItIn; 'He can teach me all about constellations, but it's not going to be Orion's belt I'm focused on'; and her personal favorite, 'Putting the flash in flashcards'.

Tamping down on another giggle, Bella shook her head and shut her browser. The account was good for laughs, sure, but it made her a little wistful. It must be a charmed circle who actually travelled at the same time as this supposed multitude of good looking guys, because here she was, on a train like every day of the week, and where were the cute nerdy guys now, huh? Huh… Oh, right in front of her, that's where.

Sitting right across the aisle, completely engrossed in his book, was an exceptionally hot dude. Reading. Bella's breath hitched when she saw that he was reading a worn copy of Mahatma Gandhi's ' _My Experiments with Truth._ ' Not only was this man scorching hot, he was clearly well read and intelligent as well.

Unable to keep her eyes off him, she stealthily gave him the old 'up and down.' His long, lean legs were covered by faded, well-worn jeans. He had on a simple gray t-shirt, with a light tan jacket. His hair was in complete disarray, as though he hadn't bothered to run a comb through it after he rolled out of bed this morning. The rays of the afternoon sun set it aflame, and brought out tints of copper, red and gold in his light brown hair. Though he sat there so casually… an arm thrown over the back of the seat next to his, slouched slightly so his legs fell open invitingly at the knees before crossing at the ankles… there was something almost forbidding about the sharp lines of his jaw and cheekbones.

Before she could control her wayward fingers, she had clicked a quick picture of the erudite Adonis across the aisle. Since HDR was the first thing that popped into her head, she quickly composed a caption worthy of that account, and sent off a message to Rose, Alice, and of course, Angela. Bella knew they would get a kick out of it.

 _Lucifer, beautiful fallen angel, tempting me to fall for you… In the spirit of non-violence, give up the battle between spirit and flesh. #LetsMakeLoveNotWar #AllNightLong #OpenToExperimentation_

…_ _…

Edward walked home from the train station, just as he did every single day of the week. He smiled at old Mrs. Green from the fourth floor as he held the door open for her. "Such a gentleman," she cooed, patting him affectionately on the shoulder as she stepped out of the apartment building. Edward smiled, but it slipped from his face as he made his way to the elevators.

He lived in a nice one-bedroom place not too far from his parents, and an easy subway ride from work. He could have afforded a car, but preferred public transport since it gave him enough time to decompress by reading a good book on the way home. Losing himself in a book made it easier to forget about how idiotic Mike Newton had been all day, messing up the easiest tasks but still getting away with it just because he was related to the Boss's wife. A good book could even help him forget about the horrors of Tanya and Lauren from HR tag-teaming to try and corner him every time he took a break. Most days it even made him stop questioning, just for a while, why his life felt so empty.

He got into the metal box and pressed the button for his floor. He barely noticed the numbers change, still lost in thought. When he had graduated four years ago, programming seemed the right career for him. Edward enjoyed coding, and had been doing so for years already. It seemed a logical, lucrative progression to get a programming job, and at first, he had been happy. He made good money, was able to afford a nice apartment and could keep aside a monthly allowance to indulge his inner bookworm.

He couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly that was making him feel so dissatisfied lately. Sometimes, he felt a little lonely. There was no shortage of women willing to go out with him, but none of them filled that emptiness in his soul. A few dates were all he could manage before politely extricating himself from their brightly lacquered talons. Maybe he was just dating the wrong women. Maybe he should stop trying to date for a while and join a book club or something. Damn, that made him sound middle-aged. He shook his head as he unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped in. Before he could spiral further into his imaginary middle-aged life, his phone rang.

"Emmett," he greeted his best friend, tossing his jacket on a chair back and grabbing a beer from the fridge. "What's up? Did your date stand you up again?"

"Ha-fucking-ha, Ed. That might've happened once, or… ok, maybe twice, but that's not why I'm calling." Emmett sounded way too smug for this early on a Friday night. "You need to check your Insta account, man. I just tagged you on something you have got to see. Oh, and then you can tell me all about it, _Lucifer_. Finally found a girl to lure over to the nerdy dark side, eh? Was she at least pretty in a hot librarian way? Not one of those bearded ladies that used to follow you around in college, right?"

"Wow, Em. That made absolutely no sense, even coming from you. What the fuck are you going on about?"

"You'll see soon enough, you sly fucker," laughed Emmett, before hanging up abruptly. Edward just stared at the phone for a moment, before shaking his head and bringing up the Instagram app.

He saw Emmett's comment in his notifications at once: _'Dude, is that you? LMAO Edsbedhead'_

Yes, it had been a memorable night involving a lot of alcohol when Emmett had convinced Edward to use _that_ as his Instagram handle.

Tapping on the thumbnail, his eyes widened as he saw that it was indeed him… yesterday, by the look of his t-shirt. Really, someone had snapped a picture and he hadn't noticed? What the fuck?

Scrolling down, he read the caption, and Emmett's comments started making a lot more sense. For a moment, he couldn't decide if he felt objectified, mortified, or flattered. Then he threw his head back and laughed. He looked through some of the earlier pictures, raised his eyebrows and choked a little on his beer as he read through the captions on each. He scrolled back up to his picture and grinned as he read the caption again. Apparently, it had been submitted by some ringabell. Why was he so turned on by the idea that a woman with wit and sass found him hot? Hot enough to be '#OpenToExperimentation', no less. Well, she'd seen him, it was only fair that he see her.

A quick tap of the screen took him to her account… which was woefully sparse. Three pictures, one of food, two of some random landscapes. No profile picture.

'Ok, that's a shame, but I'm sure I can work with this,' he thought, immediately sending off a request to follow her account. It was the work of a moment for him to follow all her friends, who thankfully hadn't locked their accounts either.

He went through the standard Insta-creeping motions… checked out their profile pictures to match names with faces, then scrolled through each of their picture streams. Hmm… food pic, food pic, a group of good looking girls. Wonder which one she is… And paydirt… angelwebs had put up a picture of a gorgeous brunette with brown doe-eyes and a somewhat shy expression, inside what looked like a music store. It was captioned, simply, 'Bella'. Edward just knew it. This was his girl.

Wait a minute. Not his girl, just… ringabell, the sneaky photo chick.

A couple of hours later, his eyes were watering from the constant peering into his phone's screen, his hands had cramped up from the constant scrolling and tapping, and his stomach was loudly protesting the lack of dinner. Thanking God for late night pizza delivery, Edward decided to take a quick shower and get into more comfortable clothing—something he wished he had thought of doing two hours ago. Before shutting his app, he opened that single picture of hers and took a quick screen shot, saving it to his phone. He figured she had a picture of him, and now he had one of her. It was only fair.

Forty minutes later, clad only in boxers and a threadbare t-shirt, Edward was feeling rather satisfied with life. As he scarfed down the last slice of pizza, his thoughts wandered back to ringabell, or Bella, which he was now sure was her name. Her friends seemed to be a pretty fun lot, judging by some of the wild party pictures they'd put up. But Bella hadn't turned up on any of those. Maybe she was the one behind the camera, though.

There were other pictures where she did turn up, some posed, some candid. There was one on alicesays' page, of the two girls lying in a cliff-side meadow, with wildflowers in the foreground, and the sea in the distance. He'd saved that one to his phone as well. Though Bella's face was only visible in profile, the long, slim line of her body had caused his breath to hitch. She looked so serene, Edward could easily imagine her as a shy, sweet girl, with a hidden wicked side just waiting to come out to play. She was intelligent, he knew that already, since she'd recognized the book he had been reading that day. And that damned suggestive caption… the more he thought about it, the more turned on he got.

With a muffled groan, he palmed his erection through the thin cotton of his boxers. Since when did a partial profile turn him so hard? Throwing his arm over his eyes, he pulled his cock out of his boxers and just gave in to the feeling. Behind his closed eyelids, he saw flashes of dark eyes and pink lips… making love in the sunshine to the soundtrack of crashing waves. As his pace grew more frantic, he could practically smell the scent of her arousal mixed with the sweet aroma of wildflowers. There was no holding back, and within minutes, he came to a pulsing, panting end.

Edward threw his head back and blinked, trying to catch his breath. What the fuck was that? Pulling off his t-shirt, he quickly cleaned himself, before tossing the shirt in the general direction of the bathroom. He could deal with that later. That girl had just about sucked the life out of him, and he hadn't even met her yet. Fuck.

…_ _…

Bella woke up late on Saturday morning. She stretched her arms above her head, smiling at the sunlight filtering in through the sheer curtains that covered her windows. There was such joy in the thought that there were people out there already up and about, rushing to work, battling traffic, planning their day, stressing out from the moment their sleep was interrupted by their alarm clock… while she lay in till her body was rested, till her stomach demanded sustenance, or till the contents of her bladder demanded an outlet, like they were doing right now.

She dashed to the bathroom to relieve herself, then brushed her teeth and twisted her hair into a loose bun. As she walked through her bedroom, she snagged a pencil and stuck it in her hair to keep the bun in place. Of course, by the time she'd found her bag, dug out the newspaper she'd bought last night, and sat down at the kitchen counter, her silky hair had all but escaped the makeshift hairpin. She grabbed some yogurt and granola, pulled out the pencil from where it dangled precariously over her left ear, and opened the newspaper to the crossword.

She had barely put a dent in her breakfast when 'Hot Stuff' started blaring from her phone. Reaching over to her bag again, Bella grabbed her phone just before the call went to voice mail.

"Hey, Rose," she greeted, her voice a little breathy as she landed her ass back onto the kitchen stool and picked up her spoon again. "Up so early?"

"Shut up, bitch," grumbled Rose. "I'm at work already. If I didn't enjoy my job so much, I swear…" the line went silent for a moment, then Rose was back, her voice an excited whisper, "Oh my God, I knew it! Guess who just slunk out of James Volturi's office looking freshly fucked… I told you that Jessica was a no-good slut!" Her voice suddenly rose to its normal attractive timbre, "Good morning, Jess. I didn't know you were in already. Love your heels, babe!"

Bella was used to Rose's propensity to hold several conversations and follow multiple streams of thought at once; hence she had wisely put the phone on speaker and gone back to her breakfast and crossword. It was her stay-in-Saturday, and she was damned if she'd expend even an iota of extra energy on trying to keep up with her friend's latest drama.

"My God, B, she dresses like a stripper, I swear!" and Rose was back. Bella made appropriate noises, only lending half an ear to Rose's chatter, as usual. She snapped back to attention the next moment, though. "…seriously hot pics, B. Since when have you got such good taste?"

"Woah, let's rewind a bit, Rose. What're you talking about?" Bella cut in.

"Well, duh, Instagram. That guy you took a picture of? That we sent to the HDR account? Ring any bells, ringabell?" Rose sniggered.

"Someone's on a roll," Bella muttered. "Yeah, so what about it?"

"Seriously? You haven't even opened your app in the last few days, have you?"

"Um… no? I mean, I set up the account, I added all of you, even put up a few pics. I got bored after a bit, honestly. Why, what'd I miss?"

"Bella, try not to be so anti-social on social media, ok?" Rose sighed, before snapping back to gossip-mode. "So here's what happened. Someone recognized the guy whose pic you'd sent to HDR and tagged him. I'm assuming the guy saw it as well, and found your account. He must've tried snooping around, but you haven't put up many pics, so he did the next best thing, and checked out your list of followers."

"Rose, I only have seven followers," said Bella, a bit dazed.

"Yes, and that probably made things a little easier for him. He's now following all of us… Angela, Alice and me, anyway. I bet if you check your app, you'll see a new follower request."

"I…I'm not sure I want to check it out, Rose. This sounds like a creepy stalker, doesn't it?"

Rose burst out laughing. "Seriously? Girl, you're the one who took a picture on the sly and put it out there with a very suggestive caption. The poor guy probably just wanted to see who _his_ stalker was!"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Bella laughed as well, seeing the funny side of the ridiculous situation she had put herself in. "But why'd he follow the lot of you, then? Why not just wait for me to accept his request?"

"Ah, now, that's a good question, darling. He's been going over all our pictures and has liked or commented on each and every one that has you in it. I think he _likes_ his stalker. And he's exactly your type… nerdy, brainy, and for once, surprisingly good looking. I'm kind of proud of you, actually." Her voice again dipped to a low, urgent whisper. "I gotta go, boss peeping out of cabin."

And just like that, she cut the line. Bella blinked once, before reaching out for the phone and weighing it in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she opened the Instagram app. Sure enough, there it was, a request from Edsbedhead to follow her. Oh, yes, she remembered that hair… it was definitely him.

'Do it, Bella, do it,' she psyched herself. Another deep breath, and she had clicked on the little green button, and followed him as well. Time to find out some more about her hot train guy, she thought, cracking her knuckles and narrowing her eyes.

…_ _…

Saturday morning, Edward woke up later than usual. He squinted at the light outside, scratching his stomach as he yawned and stretched. He had woken with a faint impression of a blue sky, dark chocolate eyes, and a whiff of elusive, earthy perfume. Had he dreamt of her? He didn't know for sure, but he knew that he was unusually upbeat. When was the last time he had looked forward to a day like he was now?

He smiled at his own foolishness, and picked up his phone as he walked out to the kitchen to grab a carton of juice. His smile broadened. Ringabell had accepted his request and was now following him. He couldn't hold back the fist pump, and collapsed on his sofa, bemused by his own elation.

Tapping on her icon, he saw that she had uploaded a new profile picture. It showed the back of a girl with wavy brown hair reaching just below her shoulder blades, standing before what looked like a stall selling used books. Her short turquoise sundress outlined a rather shapely butt, and just like that, his cock wanted in. But before all his blood could rush south, his brain pulled back in surprise and delight. She liked books!

He twisted from where he was lying on the sofa, holding up his phone a little to get a clear shot of the overflowing bookshelf that covered an entire wall of his living room. He was still smiling as he uploaded the picture.

 _I see your Book Stall and raise you my Bookshelf #WhatAreYouReading #WeekendDare_

Edward was practically buzzing, unable to concentrate on anything long enough to be productive. When he checked his phone for the twelfth time in an hour, though, he decided to get out of the house for a bit. This was getting way too intense. A quick check of his kitchen cabinets suggested that a trip to the grocery store might not be a bad idea. A man needed more than beer and chips to keep up his strength, after all. For instance, there was bacon. Definitely time to get some real food in here. Knowing Emmett, he was sure to drop by sometime during the weekend, and then they'd just be two hungry guys ordering take-out. No way.

It was early evening when he next checked her profile. He sat up when he saw that she had uploaded a picture as well. It was just a shot of her eyes peeping over the edge of an open book, with the caption ' _#MoreThanMeetsTheEye_ '.

She'd most likely snapped that herself, judging from the angle, probably lying in bed. He tore his eyes away from her limpid gaze, and squinted at the portion of book cover visible. Was that… yes, he did believe she was reading _Prometheus Unbound_.

He dashed over to the bookshelf in his bedroom (he had another full-wall bookshelf in there) and grabbed his own battered copy of Shelly's work. A quick click and he was uploading a cropped screengrab of one of the poems within.

" _Soul meets soul on lovers' lips."_

 _For the rest of us, there's always Instagram #Friends #ButCouldBeMore_

…_ _…

'There is nothing wrong with being friends,' Bella told herself, for maybe the hundredth time that week.

It had been three weeks now since she had first seen Edward. Ever since he had posted that picture of his bookshelf, daring her to respond, not a day had gone by when they hadn't exchanged messages through Instagram. Pictures of book covers, quotes, poetry… It was his appearance that had first attracted her, but it was his mind and quick wit that reeled her in. It was so much fun to interact with someone who actually got her literary references, and who seemingly shared her love for books.

To her amazement, her friends seemed to approve. They had even stopped their attempts at setting her up. As Alice had put it, the universe had dropped a hot piece of ass in her lap, and she was not going to mess with the universe's mojo… whatever that meant.

Of course Bella was grateful, but the truth was, she might have welcomed a distraction right about now. Three weeks, and Instagram remained their only point of contact. In all this time, he hadn't made the slightest move to connect with her through any other medium. Given how attractive she found hot train guy, and how often he featured in increasingly hot, sexually charged dreams, the chastity of their actual interactions was chafing on her.

Sometimes, Bella thought someone as gorgeous as him probably had a girlfriend. Probably some hot blond like this 'HawtLauren' or 'TanyeahRox' who liked and commented on practically every picture he'd ever posted. It was thanks to their comments that she now knew his name. Edward. Wasn't that just dandy? It sounded like something right out of a romance novel. Sigh.

Yeah, she'd done her fair share of cyberstalking, drooling at pictures of him at the beach wearing only low-slung board shorts. Actually, he looked hot even in pictures where he was fully dressed, working at his laptop. Oh, and the one with papers and books strewn all around, as he looked up at the camera with an eyebrow arched in annoyance was pretty hot as well. Damn, he looked fine in those thick rimmed glasses.

Bella discreetly dabbed at the side of her mouth to make sure none of the drool pooling in her mouth at the memory had actually dribbled out. She glanced at the clock. Still half an hour to go before her shift was up. The library was quiet at this time of the day, and she was struck by sudden inspiration.

Making sure no one was looking her way, she released her hair from its loose bun, shook it out, and took a quick selfie, with the library stacks in the background.

 _Slow day at work #WorkDayBlues #TellMeYourStory_

…_ _…

Edward was still buzzing an hour later, as he quickly jogged to the train station. Bella's picture in the library… damn, that woman was making him slowly lose his mind. He strongly suspected he knew exactly which library it was. He wondered if it would be creepy if he dropped by sometime, maybe around lunch tomorrow… Weaving his way through the slow moving crowds inside the station, Edward let out a small laugh. Fuck, he liked this girl. He liked how beautiful she was, of course, but he liked how smart she was, more.

"Oh shit," he muttered. His train was already at the platform. He broke into a sprint to reach it before the doors shut. Another twenty meters… ten… made it! As the doors shut behind him, Edward leaned against the pole for a moment to catch his breath. Straightening up, he looked around for an open seat… people, more people, loud people, brown eyes… wait, was that… Bella?

Bella couldn't look away, couldn't move, couldn't really process complex thoughts at the moment. It was him, again… Edward. The man she had been harboring a rather massive crush on for three weeks now. She gulped, as a slow smile started to spread across his face. It was fascinating, really. It started with his eyes, softening his entire face, before it finally touched his lips, curling them up slightly at the corners.

Watching the smile transform his face, she couldn't hold back her own shy grin. Her eyes were caught in his gaze, and everything else seemed to melt away. Neither of them was aware of how long they were just staring at each other, until the train gave a sudden jolt before slowing down as it approached the next stop.

Her stop, Bella realized with a start. She quickly gathered her bag and book, walking briskly towards the exit, where he still stood, tall and handsome as ever.

His eyes followed her every move, as she stepped closer and closer. She paused barely a foot away, so close that he could smell the complex floral scent of her shampoo, mixed with the hint of clean, warm sunshine that was probably just her. She was so close, he could see the flecks of darker brown and lighter gold in her eyes. She was so close, he could just bend down a little and …

The train lurched to a stop with a painful screech, the doors behind him opened, and Bella swept past with an enigmatic smile. He saw her step onto the platform, turn around, and just as the doors shut… she winked at him.

As the train started moving again, he let out a breath and slumped into the seat she had so recently vacated. Looking down at the book in his hand, he blinked and then laughed. He hadn't even noticed when Bella had swiped his book, replacing it with her own. _Deep Wizardry_? Holy shit! When was the last time he'd met someone who'd read these books? Everyone knew Harry Potter, but not enough people seemed to know about Kit and Nita and their endless war against Lucifer's gift of Entropy. Surely this was a sign.

He flipped through the book, quickly locating the line he was looking for.

" _Dai stihó!"_

 _It's been unconventional, but our meeting has its own magic #WellMet_

…

 **A/N 2:** I know some of you wanted more, but that's it from these two for now. Thank you, every one who read, reviewed and voted for this. I cannot express how much I appreciate it. See you all another day, with another story.


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